white red green blue alkanet

green alkanet is a handsome plant with a vivid blue flower. The naming of the plant seems to suggest some degree of colour confusion; the name alkanet is thought to derive from the arabic al henna (arabic is very guttural) for red from the red dye extracted from its roots; I would have called it blue alkanet myself. Growing alongside this plant is a very unusual white variant, no doubt best called the white green blue red alkanet. The leaves are deeply fissured and the plant is described as "roughly hairy".

Duchy College

Duchy College, on a sunny Sunday morning after a very wet and windy Saturday. Unfortunately Spot has taken to chasing horses; they do not like it and if this blog stops suddenly it will be because he has had what passes for his brain kicked out of his very silly head.

sky kittens

we like the contrast between the catkins, now out in abundance, and the deep blue sky. Presumably catkin is a corruption of cats' skins but ... it turns out , on good authority (OED of etymology), that it probably comes from a corruption of the dutch word katteken or kitten, or the French word chaton.

celandine doggerel

the lesser celandine, closing up in the evening sun









There is a flower, the lesser celandine
That shrinks, like many more, from cold and rain
And, the first moment that the sun may shine
Bright as the sun himself, 'tis out again

by Uncle Max, with some assistance from WW

(did WW really get away with such trite verse?)

demolition works

industrial archaeology reveals the original mill (to the left) underneath the monstrous corrugated iron carbuncle at Beals Mill. Very soon the little cottages in the shadow of this great hulk will be bathed in light again ...we will keep an eye on the progress of the demolition work.

lesser periwinkle

lesser periwinkle (unimaginatively derived from the latin pervinca when it might have had all sorts of old english connotations). It is a ground covering plant, usually found near habitation, but growing wild in the south west. Good for fertility when eaten by both parties, and nose bleeds in Christians (and no one else?). It is a lovely light purple blue.